Which herpes test my boyfriend should take first?

[achoacho]

Hello
I was diagnosed as HSV2 in 2004, since then I kept taking valtrex 500mb daily, and never broke out since then.
I was careless and selfish,, I did not mention to my new boyfriend even though we started to be involved sexual relationship. We always used condom for intercourse but he gave me unprotected oral sex several times.
After a month or two months, I finally told him that I had HSV2 with daily medication.
He was panic. And he was worried if he received HSV on/in his mouth from oral sex.
I read through these threads in this forum. My understanding is that he should not receive HSV1 from my HSV2 by oral sex. If he now has cold sore, he had it already before he met me. Is it right?

I like to suggest him to take test in case, but I cannot determine which test exactly he should take first.
Would you advise me? Hopefully this question is not duplicate with others...

[gracefromHHP]

I'd stop the valtrex and if you should ever get a return of symptoms, be seen within 48 hours for a lesion culture and typing to see if they are indeed hsv1.

when talking about this with future partners ( if that should ever occur ) , just be honest that you are hsv1+ and have no idea if it's oral or genital since proper testing wasn't done on you at the time and then discuss together, based on your partners hsv status what precautions to take.

[achoacho]

Asianslore

I am not pissed off. As I said first, I had only one outbreak in 2004.
After that, I kept taking valtrex.
I have never had cold sore around my mouth.. ..

Grace
Fortunately, I have been having health insurance so i did not spend too much money from my pocket.
I got your point... the original outbreak might not be herpes, huh?
I am glad that I could find out now.
Should I really stop to take valtrex?

As I agree to your suggestion, I really need to convince him to take a test.

Thank you for your advice and this site.
I really appreciate.
I wish I could find this site long time ago...

[gracefromHHP]

your bf needs tested to see what his status is so that you can make educated decisions about what precautions to use.


no way to know if your hsv1 is oral or genital unless you get another genital lesion to culture. no real reason for you to continue taking valtrex suppressively. hsv1 doesn't shed very often and rarely reoccurs. You've been spending a lot of money for not a lot of bang for your buck as they say.  you don't know if you even have genital herpes at this point and it's unfortunate it's taken so long for you to get a proper work up done to have a better idea of what you do have.  

grace

[asianslore]

I can not believe u thought u had hsv 2 this many years...  are u pissed off?  did u get any more outbreaks in the genital area?

[achoacho]

Grace

I received the result today. I would like to confirm with you for my result.

HSV1       1.6
HSV2        0.43

According to the doctor and the past posts here, I am just HSV1 but not HSV2...

Is it correct?

I have thought that I was HSV2 since the first/last breaking out was at genital area.

I still could not convince my boyfriend to take the test though..

Thanks,

[gracefromHHP]

he should take it now just to see what his status is since odds are he's never been tested before. no need to repeat his test unless he gets symptoms if you two are going to continue to be together.  

[achoacho]

Grace
Thank you for your feedback.
I don't remember who diagnosed me when I lived in DC in short time.
I will take igg test for myself.

But does he need to take igg test now and later? so he can find out whether he already had it or not, then if he will be negative,  for the second one after 2 months so, he will be able to figure out if he got from me or not?

chance to get infected from oral sex and from someone who take suppressive therapy is very low, correct?

I will make an appointment for my test on Monday.
Thanks,

[gracefromHHP]

you also need a type specific herpes igg blood test done for yourself.  you need to find out if you have hsv1 or hsv2 or neither. A visual diagnosis of herpes is wrong 1/3 of the time so you can only rely on it for initial treatment and follow up testing needs done to confirm infection.  not having had any recurrences at all in 6 years even while on suppressive therapy is good reason for looking into this further for yourself too.  if you can call your doctor who diagnosed you to see if any actual testing was done that too would be helpful.

[achoacho]

Thank you for your quick response.

Honestly, I did not know how exactly my doctor tested me...
When I felt something wrong on my clitoris (first and last time when I was broke out)... pain and itch at clitoris area,,so I went to see my doctor,
then he examined.. and told me that I was infected by herpes..
well, if i need to make sure for knowing which type of herpes I have,, what kind of test should I take?
probably, he and i should take same test? if so, which test should we take?

[gracefromHHP]

he can contract hsv2 orally from performing oral sex on you but the risk of such is very low.  hsv2 is always hsv2 regardless of location. it's not hsv1 just because it's oral.

he just needs a type specific herpes igg blood test done to see what his status is.

how were you originally tested for herpes?

grace